String bean grader



Feb. 18, 1947. c. E. KERR I 2,416,008

STRING BEAN GRADER Filed July 6, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 "Fb.18,1 947. c.E; KERR v 2,416,008

STRING BEAN GRADE-R Filed July 6, 1942 2 SheetsShet 2 m zwran 1 PatentedFeb. 18,1947

STRING BEAN GRADER Charles E. Kerr, Hoopeston, 111., assignor to FoodMachinery Corporation, San Jose, Calif., a corporation of DelawareApplication July 6, 1942, Serial No. 449,865

Claims.

This invention relates to rotary graders and is particularly useful inthe sizing of string beans.

Graders of this same general type have been provided previously for thispurpose but these have been complicated in design combining 'a largenumber of individual parts having articulation relative to each otherthus causing a large amount of wear and considerably limiting the lifeof the grader.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bean grader whichis much simpler in design than its predecessors; which because of itssimplicity is relatively light in weight; and which is comprised ofcomparatively few operating parts thus greatly reducing the wear of theequipment and lengthening its life.

mechanism l2 also includes the drive shaft 45 Another object of theinvention is to provide such a grader in which the sizing function willbe accurately performed throughout the life of the machine without thenecessity of frequent repair and adjustment.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a grader achievingthe foregoing objects at a lower cost than necessary in building gradersof the rotary type in the prior art and at the same time increase thecapacity of the machine of a given size and eliminate damage to thebeans.

The manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects as well as furtherobjects and advantages will be made manifest in the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which;

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of a preferred embodiment of theinvention partially cut away to show the internal construction thereof.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig,1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken on the line 33 ofFig. 2.

Referring specifically to the drawings a grader I0 is shown thereinwhich includes a base frame H, a drive mechanism l2, outer and innerrotary drums l3 and I l and a feed mechanism l5.

The frame H includes legs 2| and 22 united transversely by cross anglebeams 23 and 24 and united longitudinally by angle members 25. Mountedon the frame If is a bean hopper 26.

The mechanism l2 includes bearings 30 and 3| mounted respectively on thebeams 23 and 24. Journaled in these bearings are shafts 32. Fixed on theshafts 32 just inside the bearings 30 are smooth faced rollers 33 and34, Also fixed on these shafts just inside the bearings 3| are rollers35 and 36 which have annular grooves 31 and 38 for-med in theirrespective faces. The

having a drive pulley it and beveled gears 47 which mesh with beveledgears 38 provided on adjacent ends of the shafts 32 so that rotation ofthe shaft 15 turns the shafts 42 in the same direction at the samespeed. One end of the shaft i5 is provided with a small sprocket 5f! thepurpose of which will be made clear hereinafter.

The outer drum it of the grader It) includes a pair of heavy rings 68and 6! the first of which rests upon the rollers 33, and the second ofwhich rests on the rollers 35, a flange 62 provided on the ring 6!extending into the annular channels 31 of the rollers 35, The rings 50and H are connected and maintained in spaced concentric relation bylongitudinal bars 83 constituting a ring uniting means from the outerdrum is. The uniting of the bars 63 with the rings and 6! is effected bycap screws 6t. Disposed within the I area inside the bars 63 is a seriesof uniform spaced flat rings 65, each of these rings having lugs 65formed thereon to extend outwardly therefrom, each of these lugs beingfixed in a suitable kerf provided in one of the bars 63.

The inner drum It includes a smooth faced ring it which rests upon thesmooth faced rollers 34 and a ring 7! which rests upon the rollers 36and has a flange 72 which extends into the annular grooves 38in theserollers. The rings 10 and Ti are connected and maintained in spacedconcentric relation by longitudinal bars is constituting a ring unitingmeans for the inner drum I4, these bars being connected to these ringcap screws "i l, the connection being effected at the inner ends of armsl5 extending inwardly from the rings "iii and ii.

The ring H has a sheet metal cuff 16 which forms a discharge mouth forthe grader H].

Disposed outside of the bars 13 so as to encircle these is a series ofuniform flat rings Tl, each of these rings having lugs l8 formed thereonto extend inwardly therefrom each of these lugs being fixed in asuitable kerf provided in one of the bars 53. The rings 76 and ll are solocated on the bar 13 as to be interspersed in between and an equaldistance longitudinally from the rings 55 of the outer drum !3.

The rollers 36 and 35 which support the inner drum it are of lessdiameter than the rollers 33 and 35 which support the outer drum l3,

Likewise the rings if] and l! of the inner drum M are of slightly lessdiameterthan the rings 60 and Bi of the outer drum l3. This differ encein diameters causes the axis A of theouter 3 drum l3 to be a slightdistance above the axis .A' of the inner drum 14.

The feed mechanism It: includes arms 80 which are fixed on the bar 23and extends upwardly therefrom to provide suitable bearings for a shaft8! and to support a drop board 82 which extends into the upper orreceiving end of the machine. Mounted on suitable bearingson the shaft8| is a hopper 83 the bottom of which is formed by a draper belt 84passing around a drum 85 mounted on the shaft BI and an idle drum 86,the trunnions 81 of which are journaled in bearings 88. The draper belt84 is driven by the shaft 8! being rotated by a sprocket 89 fixedthereon and which is connected to the sprocket 50 by a chain '98.

Mounted on one of the legs 2| is a lever 93 the angle of which may befixed by a detent device 94 and which is connected by linkage 95 to thehopper 83 so as to regulate the angle of the hopper to facilitate theproper feeding of beans disposed in the hopper 83 to the graderOperation The grader H3 is driven from a prime mover (not shown) througha belt 9! trained about the pulley Q6. Rotation of the shaft 4-5 drivesthe draper 84 and rotates the shafts 32 thereby rotating the drums l3and M. The diameter ratios between rollers 34, 33, 35 and 36 and therespective rings 605l and iii-ii which rests on these rollers, causesrotation of these rollers to rotate the drums l3 and 14 independently ofeach other and with a certain amount of continuous creeping of one drumrelative to the other in the same direction.

. .As mentioned the axis A located slightly below that of the axis A ofthe drum i3 and rotation of the drums, when the grader is operating, isabout their respective axes.

It is desired to point out the striking simplicity of the grader [0 ascontrasted with rotary graders of the prior a1 Each of the two drums l3and I4 is an integral unit and the entire sizing mechanism of the graderconsists merely of these two units. It is furthermore to be noted thatneither of these units is driven from the of the drum i4 is other sothere is no friction, such as would wear 4 out and interfere with theaccuracy of the grader. It is also to be noted that owing to themounting of the rings 65 on the lugs 55 and rings '51 on lugs it, anample space is provided between the bars 63 and 13 that when these barsapproach close to each other in their lowered positions, they are stillan ample distance apart to prevent any pinching of beans between themounting bars 13 and the rings 65. otherwise the outer ring unitingmeans or longitudinal bars 63 are spacedyradially outwardly from theouter edges or" theinner rings '71, and the inner ring uniting means orlongitudinal bars i3 are spaced radially inwardly from the inner edgesof the outer rings 65 at the points of closest approach, a distanceexceeding the width of the sizing openings or spaces between the innerand outer drum rings 11 and 65, as best viewed in Figs. 2 and 3 of thedrawings.

The sizing function of the grader Ii) is accomplished by the spaces orsizing openings between adjacent rings 55 and ii. The beans which aresmall enough to pass through one of these spaces drop into the hopper 26and'onto a belt traveling therebeneath on which they are Stated carriedaway. The beans which are too thick to drop down through one of thesespaces are eventually delivered from the grader through themouth-forming cufi 76.

It is necessary of course that the sizing spaces be kept clear of beansthat might jam therein. This is accomplished by the difierence indiameter of the rings 65 and 11 and their rotation on different axes.This causes the respective sections of the rings H in between theadjacent bar 13 to shift downwardly away from corresponding sections ofthe ring 65 as these sections of rings 11 travel upwardly above the axisA. Beans wedged into the sizing spaces are thus released and drop ontothe mass of beans disposed inside the grader.

What I claim is:

1. In a string bean grader the combination of: an outer set of spacedrings; means disposed outwardly from said rings and uniting said ringsto form an outer drum; an inner set of spaced rings lying in planesinterspersed alternately between the aforesaid rings of said outer drum;means disposed inwardly from said inner rings and uniting said innerrings to form an inner drum separate from said outer drum, said innerdrum being of smaller diameter than the outer drum and having its axisdisposed below the axis of the outer drum, sizing openings being formedby spaces between overlapping portions of the interspersed rings of saidtwo drums, said sizing openings being circumferentially continuousthroughout said overlapping portions, the first of said ring unitingmeans being spaced outwardly from the outer edges of said inner ringsand the second of said ring uniting means being spaced inwardly from theinner edges of said outer rings at the points of'closest approach, adistance exceeding the width of said sizing openings; and means forrotating said drums.

2. In a string bean grader the combination of: an outer set of spacedrings; means disposed outwardly from said rings and uniting said ringsto form an outer drum; an inner set of spaced ring .lying in planesinterspersed alternately between the aforesaid rings of said outer drum;means disposed inwardly from said inner rings and uniting said innerrings to form an inner drum separate from said outer drum, said innerdrum being of smaller diameter than the outer drum and having its axisdisposed below the axis of the outer drum, sizing openings bein formedby spaces between overlapping portions of the interspersed rings of saidtwo drums, said sizing openings being circumferentially continuousthroughout said overlapping portions, the first of said ring unitingmeans being spaced outwardly from the outer edges of said inner ringsand the second of said ring uniting means being spaced inwardly from theinner edges of said outer rings at the points of closest approach, adistance exceeding the width of said sizing openings; means for rotatingsaid drums independently of one another at difierent peripheral speedsso that said inner uniting means progresses relative to said outeruniting means during the operation of said grader.

3. In a string bean grader the combination of: an outer set of spacedrings; means disposed outwardly from said rings and uniting said ringsto form an outer drum; an inner set of spaced rings lying in planesinterspersed alternately between the aforesaid rings of said outer drum;means disposed inwardly from said inner rings and uniting said innerrings to form: an

inner drum separate and spaced from said outer drum, said inner drumbeing of smaller diameter than the outer drum and having its axisdisposed below the axis of the outer drum, sizing openings being formedby spaces between overlapping portions of the interspersed rings of saidtwo drums, the rings and uniting means of one drum being formed anddisposed to be spaced from the rings and uniting means of the other drumat all points a distance at least equal to the width of said sizingopenings; means for rotating said drums independently of one another atdiiferent peripheral speeds; and means for maintaining said drums in afixed axial relation to preserve a substantially uniform width in saidsizing openings.

4. In a string bean grader the combination of: an outer set of spacedrings; means disposed outwardly from said rings and uniting said ringsto form an outer drum; an inner set of spaced rings lying in planesinterspersed alternately between the aforesaid rings of said outer drum;means disposed inwardly from said inner rings and uniting said innerrings to form an inner drum separate and spaced from said outer drum,said inner drum being of smaller diameter than the outer drum and havingits axis disposed below the axis of the outer drum, sizing openingsbeing formed by spaces between overlapping portions of the interspersedrings of said two drums, said inner unitin means including a series oflongitudinal bars disposed inwardly a substantial distance from theinner edges of the outer set of rings and lugs connecting said bars withsaid inner set of rings, said lugs lying in the planes of said inner setof rings so as not to substantially obstruct the movement of beans intosaid sizing openings, said sizing openings thus being open to thereception of beans and continuous circumferentially past the connectionsof said inner set of rings with said inner uniting means, and means forrotating said drums independently of one another at different rotationalspeeds in the same direction to obtain continuous relativecircumferential creepage of said drums.

5. In a string bean grader the combination of: an outer set of spacedrings; means disposed outwardly from said rings and uniting said ringsto form an outer drum; an inner set of spaced rings lying in planesinterspersed alternately between the aforesaid rings of said outer drum;means disposed inwardly from said inner rings and uniting said innerrings to form an inner drum separate from said outer drum, said innerdrum being of smaller diameter than the outer drum and having its axisdisposed below the axis of the outer drum, sizing openings being formedby spaces between overlapping portions of the interspersed rings of saidtwo drums, said sizing openings being circumferentially continuousthroughout said overlapping portions; and means for rotating said drumsindependently of one another at clifierent rotational speeds in the samedirection to obtain continuous relative circumferential creepage of saiddrums.

CHARLES E. KERR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

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